Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Bathrooms. Who would
have thought we would be talking so much about such private, yet shared
experiences?

Today, March 7, Senate Bill 6 will be heard in the Senate
State Affairs Committee at the State Capitol.
Authored by Sen. Lois Kohlkorst (R-Brenham), the bill aims to restrict
access for transgender persons to restrooms and other facilities.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has made bathroom access one
of his top priorities this session, and his message sounds an alarm: “Menacing men dressed as women are preparing
to assault our children and womenfolk!”

Mrs. Kohlkorst, ironically channeling former presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton, wrote an opinion piece that appeared in several
Texas newspapers this weekend, in which she wrote, “Women’s rights are human
rights.” She also wrote that opponents
of SB 6 seemingly have only one goal in mind—to let boys and men into women’s
restrooms to prey on girls and women.
“Young men who are ‘curious,’” she wrote, “or hold more nefarious goals
will be free to experiment, while girls and parents are left legally
powerless.”

Mr. Patrick and Mrs. Kohlkorst know exactly what they are
doing and to whom they are delivering their message. They know that most people do not understand
what it means to be transgender, assume they do not know a transgender person,
and do not understand the experience of transgender people in the real world.

And they are keenly aware that what people do not understand, they are likely to fear.
I cannot speak from any personal experience about what it is like to be
a transgender person, beyond what I have learned through study and
interaction. Nevertheless, here is some
information I have learned that might be helpful to those who do not have
knowledge or understanding of this phenomenon.

Transgender persons are people who do not—cannot—identify
with the gender assigned them at their birth. Transgender people report that this issue of
identity is not the result of choice, nor is one’s gender identity determined
on a whim. Transgender persons do not
wake up one morning and “decide” to change their gender from the prior day, as
Mrs. Kohlkorst asserted in her article.

Being transgender is not the same as being gay or any other
description of sexual orientation, which refers to physical and emotional
attraction. Being transgender is also
not as simple as dressing in clothing customarily associated with the opposite
sex. Finally, a transgender person’s
gender identity is not dependent on having surgery.

Despite what one sees on television, being transgender is
neither inherently glamorous nor extravagant.
Perhaps the most well-known transgender person in American culture today
is Caitlyn Jenner, who lives a very privileged and public life, even starring
in a reality television show. In fact,
the vast majority of transgender people in America are disproportionately poor
and significantly more at-risk of suicide and violent crime than the population
as a whole.

Finally, transgender persons are not new to American
society, though the general public is likely more cognizant of their presence
today. It is possible, perhaps even
likely, that many have met or known a transgender person, but were not aware of
their gender story. Yes, it is possible that you have been in a public restroom with a
transgender person and didn’t even know it.

The issue of safety is a red herring. There is not a shred of evidence to support
the notion that transgender persons are more prone to be violent, criminal sexual
predators. The idea that men are waiting for SB 6 to pass so they can dress up
as women, sneak into bathrooms and sexually assault women and girls is not only
factually baseless--it is already illegal
to do that! To assert, as Mrs. Kohlkorst did, that women (or men, for that
matter) are not protected legally from sexual assault is mendacity and
fear-mongering.

Senate Bill 6 is a solution in search of a problem. If it is already illegal to sexually assault
a person in a restroom or anywhere else, then what is the real impetus for this
legislation?

A lot has been said about the potential economic impact of
laws such as this. That alone, however, should
not be the reason for opposing it.

Discriminating against humans out of ignorance and fear,
denying them their basic dignity—that is reason enough.

I do not personally understand what it means to be
transgender. I have not walked in those
shoes or struggled in that way; however, I require neither the struggle nor the
experience to know that treating people as “less than” is wrong.